The present invention concerns improving the performance of a conventional double flyer winder used for winding coils of wire in the slots of an electric motor armature. Conventional winders of this type where the invention can be applied are described in U. S. Pat. No. 3,927,469.
The present invention is directed to improving the operations of these winders, particularly when the wires used to wind the armature coils need to be changed. Such a wire change is required whenever wire disposed between a wire supply spool and one or more of the flyer winder""s flyers lacks the specifications required for winding a subsequent type of armature (e.g., when a subsequent armature requires a different wire diameter or some other wire property). This situation is often referred to as the xe2x80x9cchange-overxe2x80x9d of the winder, and may also be required for other aspects of the winding operation such as wire guide changing and commutator sleeve changing.
During wire change-over, new spools having wires of the required specification are substituted for the wire spools currently feeding the flyer winder""s flyers. Accordingly, each new wire is manually threaded from its new wire spool through the winder to its respective flyer. A similar manual threading operation is performed when a wire spool being used to wind armatures runs out of wire and the spool must be replaced by a new spool having wire with the same specifications. This situation is often referred to as spool xe2x80x9creplacement.xe2x80x9d
When either wire change-over or spool replacement is performed for a conventional double flyer winder, rotation of the winder""s flyers must be halted, the previously wound armature must be removed, and the new wires must be manually threaded through the many components of the winder. Such manual threading is time consuming and inefficient, and significantly reduces the productivity of conventional double flyer winders. Accordingly, a need exists for methods and apparatus that allow wire change-over and spool replacement to be quickly and efficiently performed within a flyer winder.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide methods and apparatus that allow wire change-over and spool replacement to be quickly and efficiently performed within a double flyer winder. These methods and apparatus significantly increase the productivity of such winders.
These and other objects of the present invention are accomplished in accordance with the invention by providing methods and apparatus that allow wire change-over and spool replacement to be quickly and efficiently performed within a flyer winder. A first end of a wire currently threaded through the flyer winder (i.e., and old wire) is coupled to a first end of a new wire that is to replace the old wire. The first end of the old wire is preferably near a first spool of wire that supplies the flyer winder with the old wire. The first end, therefore, may be provided by cutting the old wire near the first spool.
A second spool of wire containing the new wire and having the first end of the new wire extending therefrom is provided. The first end of the new wire is then connected to the first end of the old wire. The two wires may be connected by twining the first end of the old wire about the first end of the new wire, by clamping the first end of the old wire to the first end of the new wire and passing an electric current through the clamped wires to produce a thermo-compression connection, or by deforming a deformable sheath about the wire ends. Other similar techniques may be employed.
Once the first ends of the old and new wires are connected together, a second end of the old wire (e.g., the end of the old wire that extends from one of the winder""s flyers) is connected to a collection device. The collection device may be an armature or some other structure having recesses for collecting the old wire. The recesses of the collection device serve as depositories for the old wire by collecting the old wire as the winder""s flyers are rotated. In this manner, the normal operation of the flyer winder may be used to collect the old wire and thread the new wire through the winder during wire change-over and replacement. In both cases, the winding of the flyers is halted when the old-to-new wire connection has been wound about the collection device. Following collection, the new wire is cut near the collection device and the collection device is removed. Being threaded with the new wire, the flyer winder is ready for winding armatures with the new wire.
In a preferred embodiment the collection device comprises a rotatable hooking drum that allows normal armature lead connection operations to be used during wire change-over or wire replacement. For instance, the second end of the old wire may be coupled to the hooking drum prior to wire collection by employing a normal winding lead connection operation. A winding lead connection operation similarly may be used to couple the freshly cut end of the new wire to the hooking drum once the new wire has been threaded through the flyer arm and cut free from the collection device.
Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantages, will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.